A selection of personal favourites from Clive Barker...

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrations by Clive Barker.
Published by HarperCollins.
Released in 1992.

By the beginning of the 1990s, Clive Barker had become known for his gruesome work on the horror movie classics Hellraiser and Nightbreed, yet in 1992 he unleashed a far less gruesome yet captivating children's story, The Thief of Always. When ten-year-old Harvey Swick expresses his boredom and frustration with life, he is taken away to a magical home where he finds other children, each indulging in any kind of vice that they could wish for. But Harvey soon realises that this bliss comes with a price that he is not willing to pay.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by Collins.
Released in 1988.

The inspiration behind Barker's 1990 movie Nightbreed, Cabal told the story of a disturbed young man called Boone who is convinced by his psychiatrist, Dr. Decker, that he is responsible for a series of brutal murders. He soon becomes obsessed with finding salvation in a place called Midian, where the monstrous outcasts of society, known as the Nightbeed, take refuge from the rest of the world.

Written by Clive Barker.
2002 introduction by Clive Barker.
Published by Sphere Books.
Released in 1985.

Shortly after being released from prison, Marty Strauss is hired as a bodyguard for millionaire Joseph Whitehead, yet Marty soon comes to realise that his life may be in danger when he meets a mysterious man called Mamoulian, whom Whitehead had made a pact with years earlier.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrations by Clive Barker.
Published by Collins.
Released in 1987.

Released the same year as Barker's directorial debut Hellraiser, Weaveworld was his most ambitious work to date, which told of a magical realm that had been woven into a rug and the adventure that two unsuspecting young people, Cal Mooney and Suzanna Parish, embark on.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by Dark Harvest.
Released in 1986.

The novella that would inspire the movie Hellraiser and its subsequent sequels, The Hellbound Heart told of Rory Cotton and his wife Julia, who move into their new home but discover that his brother, Frank, had been seduced by a puzzle box called the Lament Configuration, which offered the user untold pleasures and pain, but had since escaped from the demonic Cenobites and needs human blood to return to life.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by HarperCollins.
Released in 1991.

Imajica, first published in 1991, would even eclipse Weaveworld in terms of ambition, an epic novel which told of a man who hires an assassin to murder his wife and how this sets off a series of events that involve several dominions known as the Imajica.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by Collins.
Released in 1990.

In the late 1960s a postal worker, Randolph Jaffe, uncovers evidence of what he believes to be an underground cult who practice magic and launches his own investigation, where he launches a battle against a scientist and impregnates several women, bringing more innocent souls into the crossfire.

Written by Clive Barker.
Designed by Elliott Beard.
Published by HarperCollins.
Released in 1994.

Following on five years after The Great and Secret Show, Everville tells of a small town and its array of inhabitants, including deyective Harry D'Amour, which had been the protagonist in Barker's short story Lord of Illusions, as well as his big screen adapatation, which was released in 1995.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by HarperCollins.
Released in 2002.

Bored teenager Candy Quackenbush decides to explore the lighthouse on the edge of town, where she meets a thief called John Mischief, who is being chased by a strange creature. Together they manage to escape the beast and make their way to the magical land of Abarat.

Written by Clive Barker.
Illustrated by Clive Barker.
Published by HarperCollins.
Released in 2004.

Following the acclaim of Abarat, Barker returned to the magical world of the book two years later with a sequel, Days of Magic, Nights of War. Once again following the adventures of bored teenager Candy Quackenbush, the second Abarat book also features a bounty hunter called Otto Houlihan and the magician Kaspar Wolfswinkel.